Changsha!

Ni hao from Changsha!

Sorry it has been ages since I have written! So much has happened I don't know where to begin.

I will start with leaving India. Leaving India was very sad. I was very comfortable in my homestay, I knew my way around the city and I loved the food. We had a fun farewell dinner with all the students and host families which was a nice way to end. Even though the next day Abby and I still had to finish up our final papers for India! We left on March 5 at midnight and took a 3 and a half hour flight to Bangkok. We then had a 6 hour layover in the airport in Bangkok which was pretty awful because we were all so tired and many of us felt sick. We tried to sleep on the floor but it was freezing! After that we took a 4 hour flight to Beijing.

Beijing was great! We stayed in a hotel by the drum and bell towers. The first full day in Beijing we went to the Great Wall. It was incredible. We hiked up hundreds of stairs surrounded by trees and mountains which reminded me of home. When we got to the top we were able to walk all along the wall and up into the towers. I have some great pictures! The end was the best part. We rode down an alpine slide on sleds! It was really fun. At the end we walked around and bought dried fruit and t-shirts. The next day in Beijing we went to Tiananmen Square and a city planning musuem. That night I also went with a few people to look at the Olympic venues. It was a little dissappointing because the water cube wasn't lit up but it was still great to see and to remember the Olympics! The next day we went to the Forbidden City which I am sorry to report was a little underwhelming. I think I just didn't really appreciate it enough because my knowledge of Chinese history is quite limited. That evening we took a 13 hour overnight train to Changsha. The train was an experience! It was quite cramped because we decided to keep all our luggage with us in our sleeping cars. I slept on the top of a three tier bunkbed which turned out to be fine.

In Changsha our entire program is affliated with Central South University or CSU. It is so funny because everytime someone says CSU I immediately think of Colorado State University! I am still trying to find t-shirts that say CSU on them for my friends who go there! CSU has an enormous campus with over 30,000 students. We stayed at a hotel on campus for the first 3 nights.

Now, I am moved in with my homestay family. My homestay partner is Sarah! She goes to Wake Forest and is studying health and exercise. She is also a personal trainer which is awesome because we have started to work out together! Our homestay mom asked us to call her Miss Wang! Miss Wang is great. The first day all the parents came in and everyone looked fairly "normal" but Miss Wang was wearing red pants with a neon yellow jacket and has crimped reddish hair with straight across bangs! She has a daughter who we call Lily who is 19 and is a sophmore at another University in Changsha. We are staying in their apartment where Sarah and I have our own rooms. Because I know some people are curious...we have a squat toilet! The only bad thing is that we are absolutely freezing! Inside it is very cold and everyone wears wool socks and down jackets. After I finish typing this I will go put my gloves back on!

Changsha is quite different from Bangalore so far. First, the way our program is run is much more strict. In India, time is a fluid concept and lateness is not an issue at all. Here, we have to be early everywhere or else it is considered very rude. We also have to "count off" (we are each assigned a number and count in order to make sure everyone is present) extremely often. You must stay with the group at all times! The classroom is much more formal. Also, we are treated like celebs! The first day we were here the newspaper came and took a bunch a photos for the paper. Also, there is a 40 ft giant banner hanging from the library that says "CSU welcomes IHP US Students" It is crazy!

One thing I have to write about is the food. So far, I hate to say it but I am not a big fan of the food. It is just really oily and fried. There is also a lot of meat which I have not been eating and didn't really want to eat but seems impossible here not to eat meat. We have even seen dog on the menu! On a funny note, one night when we went out to dinner there were some hilarious translations from Chinese to English including: Black Fungus, Spicy cattle hoof ligament, Oil pig ear wire, the spinach mixes peanut, incense mixed with pig heart, northwest sheep face, heat the oil splash at similar stick the noodles, the oil sprinkles leatherbelt noodles and cook like cat ear the noodles (perhaps my fave). I have some great pics of the menu and everytime I look at them I crack up!

Well, hopefully I will be able to write more now that I am in one place! As always, thank you so much for sending e-mails. I really enjoy reading them and hopefully will have time to write back.

Love,
Barbara